Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.051% of adults around Timberlea rate their health very good or excellent
Women in the region live to 83.4 and men to 79.3, 81.4 years taken together (2022/2024). Measured from where Timberlea’s residents live, the nearest hospital is 10 km away, beyond the typical 3.7 km. Health gives Timberlea a grade of B, #25 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,820 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
What stands out about health in Timberlea
A long way to hospital
Residents of Timberlea live much further from a hospital than in the typical Canadian town (11 km from its centre of population), and 0% are more than 30 km away. Getting care ↓
From Statistics Canada: the health survey and life expectancy for the health region, the deprivation index for the town; distances from the healthcare facilities database and OpenStreetMap.
Timberlea grades B for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #25 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,820 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
Getting to hospital from Timberlea: 10 km on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Timberlea, weighted by who lives there.
For distance to care Timberlea is ordinary: 9.2 km is the typical figure in Nova Scotia, 3.7 km for the typical Canadian town. Few clinics are listed in Nova Scotia, so the distance to one reads longer than it is.
Hospitals and clinics: Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities. Pharmacies: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Straight-line distances from each dissemination area, weighted by its 2021 population.
The region lives 0.8 years less than its deprivation predicts
One dot per health region, 102 in all, since life expectancy and the index are published for regions; Timberlea’s dot is marked, under the line.
Life expectancy drops as deprivation climbs across Canada’s 102 health regions (correlation −0.83); a score of 2.6 would suggest 82.2 years, but Timberlea’s region stops at 81.4. Among the 10 regions closest to it on the index, longer lives win out: 5 of the 10, around a median of 81.7 years. The towns here bring in about $81,000 a household, below the typical region, while living longer than it; that is why income, which correlates at just 0.14 with life expectancy across regions, isn’t the measure.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
In the region, high blood pressure (21%) and diabetes (7.5%)
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
Habits · 2023/2024
At 35%, self-reported obesity is below Nova Scotia’s 39%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight.
Longest and shortest lives among the 4 regions in Nova Scotia
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Nova Scotia, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
Top of the 4 regions in Nova Scotia: the lowest figure is 78.8, 2.6 years below the highest.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
This is the one part of the block measured for Timberlea itself, and it sets the scene rather than feeding the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
More people rate their health highly here than in Nova Scotia: 51% to 47%
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Mental health is close to the province’s: 48% rate it very good or excellent, against 48% in Nova Scotia, and 24% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Timberlea is 32nd of 40 towns its size for nearness to a hospital
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (10,760 to 11,273 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 4.0 km.
| # | Town | People | Hospital | Very good health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabbagetown-South St.James Town ON A | 11,205 | 0.7 km | 50% |
| 2 | Penetanguishene ON A− | 11,141 | 0.8 km | 54% |
| 3 | Bendale South ON A | 10,885 | 0.9 km | 50% |
| 30 | West St. Paul MB B | 10,796 | 7.2 km | 52% |
| 31 | Alexandria ON C+ | 10,772 | 7.5 km | 49% |
| 32 | Timberlea NS B | 11,014 | 10 km | 51% |
| 33 | Lethbridge County AB C+ | 10,988 | 11 km | 52% |
| 34 | Thornbury ON C+ | 11,162 | 12 km | 48% |
| 40 | Yellowhead County AB D− | 10,966 | 27 km | 48% |
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
Health in the places around Timberlea
The places around, with the distance to a hospital and their regions’ figures. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | Hospital | Very good health | Life exp. | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timberlea | 10 km | 51% | 81.4 | B |
| Clayton Park West 5.6 km | 6.2 km | 51% | 81.4 | B |
| Mount Royale 6.5 km | 5.0 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Fairview 7.8 km | 3.8 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Bedford 8.1 km | 4.9 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Westmount 9.3 km | 2.6 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
| Windsor Park 9.7 km | 1.9 km | 51% | 81.4 | B+ |
Because the health region stops further out than these places, they all carry Timberlea’s regional figures. Residents of Windsor Park live nearer a hospital, at 1.9 km against 10 km in Timberlea.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
- Who the survey asks. Not everyone is in the survey’s sample: reserves, the Canadian Forces, institutions and two northern Québec regions are left out.
- What counts as a hospital. The facilities database merges provincial lists of different vintages; its hospitals include some with no emergency department, and a few are placed by postal code.
- Deprivation is context. Statistics Canada’s 2021 deprivation index describes the town’s own areas for context only, with no index for the territories.
- Distances are straight lines. They run from where residents live, not along roads, so they understate a drive; each dissemination area counts by its 2021 population.
- Regional figures. Statistics Canada reports the survey and life expectancy by health region, not by town: Timberlea shares them with its neighbours, while the distances are measured for it alone.
Questions about health in Timberlea
How is Timberlea’s Health Grade worked out?
No letter yet for Timberlea: Canada is graded in one run, and Health will then compare its region and its access to care with the typical Canadian town.
How far is Timberlea from a hospital?
Beyond the hospital, the average home in Timberlea is 2.2 km from a pharmacy; clinics are too sparsely listed in the province to say.
How healthy is Timberlea?
More of the region’s survey and life-expectancy figures trail the typical Canadian town than beat it. On arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure, the region’s average share is 18%.
What is the life expectancy in Timberlea?
Women in Timberlea’s region live to 83.4 on average and men to 79.3, Statistics Canada’s 2022/2024 estimate.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (13-10-0972) · Statistics Canada, life expectancy 2022/2024 (13-10-0988) · Statistics Canada, health regions 2023 (82-402-X) · Statistics Canada, Open Database of Healthcare Facilities · pharmacies © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Statistics Canada, Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).